The Search for Al Qaeda - Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future

Al Qaeda is the most dangerous terrorist movement in history. Yet most people in the Americas and Europe know very little about it, or their view is clouded by mis-perceptions and half truths. If the first rule of war is to know your enemy, then we have a long way to go. This important book fills this gap with a comprehensive analysis of al Qaeda - the origins, leadership, ideology, and strategy of the terrorist network that brought down the Twin Towers and continues to threaten us today.

Bruce Riedel is an expert on the Middle East and South Asia, with thirty years of intelligence and policy making experience. He was actually in the White House Situation Room during the 9/11 attacks, serving as special assistant to the president and National Security Council senior director for Near East Affairs. He draws on this insider experience in profiling the four most important figures in the Al Qaeda movement: Osama Bin Laden, its creator and charismatic leader ideologue Ayman Zawahiri, its Egyptian co-leader and principal spokesman Abu Musaib al Zarqawi, leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq until his death in 2006 and Mullah Omar, its Taliban host. These profiles provide the base from which Riedel delivers a much clearer understanding of Al Qaeda and what must be done to counter it.

A former CIA officer, Bruce Riedel focuses on political transition, terrorism and conflict resolution. He was a senior advisor to three U.S. presidents on Middle East and South Asian issues. At the request of President Obama he chaired an inter-agency review of policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan for the White House that was completed in March 2009